"You need to practice with your quirk. See what you can do." Dabi was sitting on a chair as he watched Satoko intently. "You can try it on the other league members and see what happens."
"Uh. How?" Satoko frowned. "I can only fight physically."
She really didn't understand what he expected from her.
Dabi groaned. "Just order Shigaraki around or something. See if anything happens."
Shigaraki's head shot up. He was resting on the couch when he heard his name. "I never agreed to this!"
"Deal with it. You're the one who wanted her this time," Dabi pointed out.
One of Shigaraki's eyes twitched. "You wanted her too, so don't act like it was just me."
"I doubt it's a quirk that controls people." She denied as she ignored their statements. "Not everyone listens to me. In my experience, people only listened when they felt threatened from my strength."
If this was the case, then her dad would have listened to her when she asked him to stop. Her mom would have listened to her too. The mere image of his fists pounding down upon her crossed her mind.
"This must be a joke..." She had her voice lowered with that last remark.
"Just try it," he insisted. "If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work. But if it does...we have something to gain from it."
He almost cringed at how much that first part sounded like his father. Always saying 'just try it' when he was a child as if he would take no for an answer. But it was fine if Dabi did it, right? Because Dabi had been treated badly his entire life. Clearly, he would have no choice but to act out on anger.
In the deepest depths of his mind, he knew that he was wrong in thinking that. It wasn't easy to accept though. So he wouldn't.
"Ugh." She complained. She suspects they would be faking it, but...
How would that make any sense? These felons just do whatever she wants?
Well, it's worth a shot. These people are just insane anyways.
Shigaraki seems to be a scary person. She doubts he would easily listen. Despite how bad these people are, she doesn't want to ask them to hurt themselves.
That would be messed up even though they are bad people.
"Face the wall." She ordered in dull tone. Thinking she has proven her point, Shigaraki didn't move. "Ya see? Nothing."
There was a little disappointment in her tone.
But little does she know, she doesn't know how to control her quirk. It doesn't just work at whim.
Shigaraki looked towards Dabi. "Well? Why isn't it working now?!"
Dabi shrugged. "I dunno. How should I? Maybe she needs to be in a scarier situation."
Shigaraki stood up and approached Satoko. He looked back at Dabi before doing anything. "Why aren't you the one she tests it on?"
"She likes me better than she likes you. Now be quiet and do your job." Dabi looked rather proud to say that.
"I don't like you!" Satoko hissed, looking towards Dabi. But she doesn't even know if she was even telling the truth. That even felt weird saying that. "I mean..."
She stopped herself from apologizing. Why should she anyway?
Then, she just had noticed Shigaraki approaching her. She started getting that chill down her spine.
She knows about his quirk from the last time. Just his presence alone was creeping her out. One wrong move of hers could decay her own flesh.
"Stay away!" She yelled with a tough expression. But that didn't stop him from moving.
Ordering someone? That's laughable.
She started to pant from her pent up anxiety. There was something else she was holding onto.
That little belief that Dabi was actually right about her.
"GET BACK FACING THE WALL, NOW!" She shrieked as she was moving her leg in case she does have to kick him.
Shigaraki turned. He looked unbalanced for a second before quickly regaining his balance. He started to walk towards the wall and then stopped. The entire time, he was eerily silent.
Dabi looked pleased. "Nice. It's kinda funny to see him listening to orders for once."
Toga started to clap. "Now make him bleed next!!" But everyone ignored her weird exclamation.
Satoko stood in shock. She was putting pieces together of the others times this had happened. "That...."
In a hesitated state, she crept towards Shigaraki to see if it's actually legit.
She waved her hand near him. He didn't move. He seriously acted like she wasn't there.
Inevitably, he would have struck her. It was like he was a zombie.
She moved quickly away, and stood next to Dabi. She had a hard time processing it all.
"I...did that?" She asked, pointing towards Shigaraki in disbelief while looking at Dabi. For a split moment, there was an actual smile on her face. Was she actually feeling a positive emotion from this?
Dabi had never seen her smile like that before. He kept his smile as well. "You should've listened to me. It was obvious from the start. Now see how long you can keep that up."
Dabi, the notorious villain, was watching over her training almost like a mentor. In a strange way...he almost felt proud.
She realized she was grinning and stopped. Trying to mask it as if it were a bad thing. Putting two and two together, she realized the time Shigaraki backed off.
The other time when Dabi left her too.
The fact that Shigaraki was still standing there, she doesn't know how long her quirk effect lasts for.
"Umm... How long did he stay zoned out like that last time?" She pondered. Usually, she isn't one to ask questions like this. But this is so foreign to her, she can't grasp it. "How do I keep it up? I don't know how this works."
It was like she can't tell whether she was concentrating or not.
Toga was about to say something, but Dabi spoke over her. Getting advice from Toga would be getting nowhere.
"He snapped out of it when you left," Dabi explained. "It's probably the same case now. When you leave or the task is complete, he comes back to his senses."
"Huh..." Satoko pondered for a bit. She felt a little bad keeping him that way. "I wonder if I could just-"
She doesn't feel like ordering someone would snap them out of it. Perhaps, concentration would do it.
She focused on him, putting her feeling into that the task was complete. It took a bit, but it got Shigaraki to return to his senses.
Shigaraki turned around quickly. He growled loudly. "Again?! You brat-"
Dabi stepped in between Shigaraki and Satoko. "Let's let her do her thing. She might be more important to the league than you are, anyway."
Shigaraki sighed. "I would decay you right now if it wasn't for the fact that I need you."
Dabi spun on his heels to face Satoko again while talking to Shigaraki over his shoulder. "And I would cremate you. Guess we'll never get what we want."
Satoko was a little surprised that Dabi would defend her. (No... Remember... They may need me now, but they can always get rid of me too.)
She wants to take advantage of learning her quirk a bit more.
"Brat?" She scoffed. "I'm an adult just like you are."
"Let's face it, Tomura." Toga chimed. "You need her too! What would you do without us?"
Shigaraki looked agitated, but he didn't seem to want to attack anyone. "Whatever. Do whatever you want. It's not like I care. As long as I take down hero society, I'm a happy camper."
With that, he left the room.
As he did so, another villain walked in. "What's goin' on now?"
"Perfect." Dabi nodded his head towards Twice. "Try it on him."
"Tomura!! Watch what you've been missing out on." Toga giggled.
"Alright." Satoko nodded. Practice does make perfect. It seems her quirk works on emotions.
She just has to think about something awful. The mere blurry image of her dad's face appeared. No. That won't work.
Something about her parents didn't make her quirk trigger the first time.
She thought about the people who killed her trust. The fear of abandonment.
"Don't move a muscle!" Satoko demanded Twice.
"Stop messing with me before I kill you," Twice stated. His voice sounded a lot more intimidating than before.
"Interesting..." Dabi commented. "You only made one of them be quiet."
Twice's cheery personality was what they were all used to. That was the side of him that usually made any decisions. The more aggressive side was the side that usually didn't cause any actual trouble, and typically got ignored.
Something about that made Satoko's throat hurt just a little, but she asked. "One of them?"
"He has two different personalities!" Toga exclaimed as if she was being entertained.
Twice wasn't moving, but he was still speaking and almost twitching. (I need to get him to be quiet...!) Satoko took on that challenge and concentrated more. "Shut your mouth!"
Finally, he went completely silent. Dabi didn't say anything else yet. He just watched Satoko to see what she would do next.
The burning in her throat was worsening a little. It kind of felt like Twice was internally fighting her still. "Go to sleep!!"
She watched Twice fall unto the ground. He was definitely passed out and snoring.
She touched her throat being so sore. Come to think of it, she's had this happen to her a lot.
She can't remember the other times, but she's been definitely using her quirk over the span of years.
"That makes sense to why I lost my voice the last time..." Satoko looked at Dabi a bit. Using it on him must have been hard for her quirk. It depends on the person she guesses. She started coughing a little bit from the sore throat.
"Then we must make sure her voice stays healthy so she can work for us."
Dabi turned his head towards the doorway, but didn't see anyone. He narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?"
Shigaraki stuck his head over the corner. "I'm spying, of course! I am a villain after all!" He entered the room entirely. "Dabi. You go get some stuff for her throat. Steal some tea or something. I don't care. As long as it keeps her useful to us."
(I guess they don't have money either.) Satoko pondered. Come to think of it, she would steal too...
She feels guilty every time for doing so, but she had to in order to survive.
Toga started giggling. "Look whose taking orders now."
Satoko continued listening to Shigaraki's and Dabi's bickering as she was resting her throat.
Most of the bickering was fast paced comments. They hurled insults back and forth without hesitation. At some point, it started to feel less like they were arguing over an errand and more like they just hated each other for no reason.
"At least I take showers."
"At least I don't scratch myself to the point of bleeding whenever the slightest inconvenience happens."
"Well Takahashi doesn't seem to think I'm ugly."
"I do."
"Of course you do. Hero society is biased towards quirk that make you look good. That's an important part of the ranking system. You see-"
"Stop it with your hero society crap. I just told you to go do it yourself, not to monologue me to death."
"You're the one who wanted her more badly than any of us. You should be the one to take care of her." Shigaraki laughed like he was a junior high kid gossiping about crushes.
"Take care of me? Tch. I'm not some kind of pet." Satoko scowled. "I can get my own drink since you guys are making it such a big deal." Her voice sounded a little raspy. Talking was just making it worse.
"We don't care what you are or aren't." Shigaraki had his arms out as he spoke. "We're villains. We take what we need, even if what we need is a person. If it gets us one step closer to defeating the final boss then it's worth it. We'll treat you how we want to treat you."
Dabi rolled his eyes. He walked to the door and pushed it open. "I'm gonna go get the tea. It's better than listening to this again."
Toga goes to leave too. Satoko wasn't sure why, but being left alone with him made her a little terrified. Especially since her throat was hurting.
But...
The way Shigaraki was talking was like as if he was in a video game. It's rather strange that she started laughing softly at what he said.
She really is crazy to find this amusing. "Final boss? I didn't think you had a sense of humor."
"Sense of humor?" He grumbled. "I'm just stating the obvious."
A small part of him felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. She was laughing at him, yes, but her laughing gave him a warm feeling in his chest.
Disgusting.
She was taken aback from his response. She almost gave off a teasing comment, but stopped herself. She thought to herself a moment.
What if this is what she was missing? Understanding the villains more? It could be a step too.
It almost hurt her chest to even laugh like that. When was the last time she even laughed?
(I really am crazy... I contradict myself with what I believe in.)
Oh well. One thing's for sure that heroes and villains have in common.
They're humans. Like her. What if this was what she was missing? A latch to her heart wiggled a bit.
"Well, I always wanted to play video games. They do look fun." She continued, trying to keep the topic light and easy.
"They are fun if you can keep from decaying the control. Which should be no problem for you." He looked down at the ground for a moment before she could see the corner of his eyes focus on her. "You should play one of mine sometime."
"You have games?!" She exclaimed. She found that surprising, but also not. He probably did steal it anyways. "Well, if decaying is an issue, I can help you play it. I would suck really badly though."
Her attitude changed towards him. He could tell. She seemed more casual and friendly. He didn't understand. Why would she act that way towards him of all people? Wasn't he disgusting? Untouchable? Cursed?
"Just beat Dabi and I'll be glad," he commented with a smile. He gently nudged Twice with his foot. "The others too, I guess."
"Oh, I will." She started coughing. It's strange... he was actually smiling? This was weird coming from someone who wanted to kill her. She cursed a little bit from the hacking. Ugh. Vocal chords are annoying. "Ha...."
She got herself composed again. "You can't kill me then since I have to beat him."
"I can't kill you anyway," Shigaraki grumbled. "You're part of the league now. I have to at least see if I'll regret that decision or not."
Oddly enough, he didn't even want to kill her anymore. Would he miss talking about video games and seeing her smile? It's possible.
He didn't expect her to ever smile like that around him. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had. That sort of smile- like someone didn't mind him being there- was so rare. It was so human. He wasn't accustomed to it. He couldn't even see the fault in the fact that the other league members didn't care for him as a human. Had anyone really cared for him like that?
To them, he was a weapon. He was strong. He could be used. The emotional attachment was nonexistent. He had a goal that he wanted to accomplish because he thought that it would make for a better society. He didn't even know that the others had something else in mind.
He was surrounded by people with similar problems, but their circumstances were still so different. The worlds that they grew up in and chose to continue living in varied greatly. They might as well have been aliens to each other. No one else could fully understand Shigaraki. Shigaraki could never fully understand anyone else.
The way he viewed the world was in a different light than them. One would probably call him crazy because of this difference. So, of course, he could never fit in with society.
Satoko genuinely smiled around him though. Why? He couldn't wrap his head around it. The smile felt so authentic that it was almost painful to look at.
That's when he remembered. (Someone did care for me as a person. I killed them.)
Anything that he touched would always die. So when he cared for something...held it to any importance at all...he had to make sure that he never made physical contact with it.
(Part of the league...) She doesn't consider herself to be still. She's always hated villains and heroes. How villains kill people. How heroes abuse their power.
Usually, she'd scoff at that statement, but she couldn't find herself doing so.
"Can I ask you something?" She changed the topic suddenly. "Why are you doing this? What's your story?"
Her words weren't in an interrogating tone. They felt a bit more... heartfelt? Wanting to understand him better.
She wants to understand Dabi too, but he seems so secretive. Especially how she kinda poured out her past towards him that one day. (He's such a jerk.)
Merciless. Rough.
But she remembers his eyes that one time. How they looked a little hesitant to use his full power on her. The fact he even saved her from those scummy people. She feels a bit confused as she tries not to have her emotional guard down around them.
But her attention goes back to Shigaraki. Another mystery to her. She honestly wasn't expecting him to answer her questions. It felt a bit useless to her still. Such conflicting emotions she's been feeling lately.
"I'll tell you..."
Shigaraki explained his story to her. How his grandmother was a famous hero when she was alive and had abandoned her son for his own safety. When Shigaraki was young, he didn't want to believe that Nana was a bad person. He didn't know her, but he looked up to her.
He had terrible allergies all throughout his life. His father would get annoyed and lock him outside due to his constant scratching and crying. Being outside only caused it to worsen though.
His father would say that it was because he loved him. He had to teach him right from wrong. But really, he was just angry and couldn't process his own trauma. So he took out his anger on his son.
Shigaraki's sister, Hana, would often time be sneaky about getting him information about their grandmother. She was just a child who wanted to make her brother happy. She had no idea how much it would hurt him.
When his father found out, he was furious. He snapped at Shigaraki's mother and then went on to hit Shigaraki so that he promised not to do it again.
'This hurts me just as much as it hurts you. It's for your own good though.'
His eyes looked sad when he said that. If he was so sad over it, then why beat him in the first place? Why lock him outside and tell him to give up on his dreams? If he felt so remorseful...why did he never change?
Shigaraki cried all day after that. He was locked outside and not allowed to see his mother or sister, so what else could he do? Nothing. Just wail and beg to be let inside until his lungs hurt.
Of course, no one listened. No one ever did. Life could never be as simple as someone asking to be treated fairly and it actually happening. Using force was all he really knew.
Eventually, his dogs went over to give him the company that he so desperately needed. He held onto both of them so tightly, feeling a bit of comfort from the warmth and the way they kept licking his face to cheer him up.
His sobs eventually quieted and became sniffles. He held the two dogs closely until he felt fluid oozing through his fingers.
He was so horrified when he looked down and saw nothing but two pools of blood and two heads. He screamed a heart wrenching cry for help. He didn't understand. Why? Why was his only source of comfort reduced to a pool of blood?
Hana disobeyed their father's rules and ran outside. She reached a hand out to him, trying to help him with everything she had.
She was decayed. They all were.
One after another.
His entire family.
Not even a single corpse was left.
He went out into public and tried to find help. No one would help him. They all stayed clear due to the blood on his hands. Some said that heroes would come to help him. They never did.
The only one who arrived to help was a man without a face. He took him in and gave him shelter. Food. Made sure that he felt appreciated. The only condition was that he had to wear the hands of his dead family all the time so that he would be reminded of that freedom he felt when he killed them.
He even helped him train his power. He told him that he would be with him every step of the way. He gave him the idea of rewriting society so that no one would suffer like he did. Of course, be was all for that idea.
"Man... I... I'm speechless. I'm so sorry." Satoko felt very sad hearing his past. She can empathize with some of his pain, but his is much worse. Shigaraki can clearly see what her expression even shows. "I know what it's like to have parents that hurt you. I have been there..."
But to kill his family and others... No wonder he's so twisted and messed up. It definitely caused a psychological issue.
"The man without a face...What is his name?" She asked. Whoever he was, one thing's for certain. He's taking advantage of Shigaraki's mental state.
(Is it the same for me? Are these people also doing the same thing?) She felt distressed at the thought of it.
Shigaraki shrugged. "He called himself All for One after his quirk. I'm guessing it's similar to One for All."
Satoko remembered the conversion with All Might and that Melissa girl. She feels a little bad snapping at her the other time.
(I wonder...)
But she left that kind of thinking for later. She looked towards Shigaraki. She doesn't know what name to call him by.
Dabi called him 'Shigaraki' and Toga called him 'Tomura'.
(We all seem to have our own traumas... Hatred can often blind us. Manipulation too.) She thought. (I want to... do something to make all this cycle of violence and hatred end. I want a righteous justice.)
She knows she can't do it by herself. It is rather clear to her now. She is a little anxious still from everything, but keeps her tough face on.
"Shigaraki? Er.. or do you want me to call you Tomura?" She asked before she continued.
Shigaraki sighed. "I prefer to go by Shigaraki. Toga just doesn't listen to anything."
"Got it." She responded and continued her train of thought. Talking was putting a strain on her throat a bit more, but she ignored the feeling. "It seems we both have suffered not knowing what it's like to be loved by others. The only person I had was my grandpa."
She went into a little bit details on him and her own past. "...It's hard for me to want to be near others. To trusting others. I'll be bluntly honest, I don't trust any of you. But that's me... I just don't trust anyone. Yet, here, I am listening to your story and sharing mine."
She looked towards him. "You felt under appreciated. Maybe you're just scared like me. Scared to get close to anyone." She smiled sadly. "I'm honestly terrified that I'll be abandoned. I don't even know what I'm doing here. I'm such a hypocrite for saying this, but know this. I'm not the type to abandon people in need."
Shigaraki couldn't believe that. Satoko was an odd person. She had the mixture of a hero's heart but a villain's motives. He turned away from her.
"Tch. Sure." With that,he walked away.